Along with the wide use of pesticides in the world, the concerns over their health impacts are rapidly growing. There is a huge body of evidence on the relation between exposure to pesticides and elevated rate of chronic diseases such as different types of cancers, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson, Alzheimer, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), birth defects, and reproductive disorders. There is also circumstantial evidence on the association of exposure to pesticides with some other chronic diseases like respiratory problems, particularly asthma and chronicobstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, chronic nephropathies, autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematous and rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and aging.

The common feature of chronic disorders is a disturbance in cellular homeostasis, which can be induced via pesticides' primary action like perturbation of ion channels, enzymes, receptors, etc., or can as well be mediated via pathways other than the main mechanism.

In this review, we present the highlighted evidence on the association of pesticide's exposure with the incidence of chronic diseases and introduce genetic damages, epigenetic modifications, endocrine disruption, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein response (UPR), impairment of ubiquitin proteasome system, and defective autophagy as the effective mechanisms of action.

Look at what the NZ department of primary industries says about the safety of a very questionable organo-phosphate, widely used in NZ:

"Is it safe?

Despite its widespread use, there have been no reports of chlorpyrifos causing significant problems. Accidental exposure to the concentrated product at very high levels, has been known to cause short term 'hangover' like symptoms but no known long term effects. No such reports have been recorded from exposure to the diluted spray mix.

The chemical has a strong and distinctive smell, which can be detected long before any toxic dose level would be reached."

This reads like an advertisement for chlorpyrifos.

So this is what research is up against: DEAFNESS! and putting the economy before people's health and children's development.

My family ran my grandfather's farm until I was about eleven. I would have been exposed to herbicides and any pesticides used on the farm because my father never changed his clothes when he cam in from the farm work. We also had an unlicensed exterminator spray the house (we didn't know that he did not have a license) and not only do I have CFS and Fibromyalgia, but my mother has neuropathy and my father also has nerve problems as well.
So I certainly do think that pesticides and herbicides cause these problems. I also had endometriosis as a teen, and many think that it can be tied to chemicals used in feminine hygiene products.